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: BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog

Seeing the "sites" (again)

BoardBuzz told you before about the TLN Site Visits. Well, they've wrapped up for the spring, with the final one in Batavia City School District in New York last week, which was, by all accounts, a rousing success. Ann Flynn, NSBA's director of Education Technology Programs, who attended the visit, had this to say

I couldn't agree more with Tom Lambeth of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation who said "the path to economic development begins at the schoolhouse door." He could have been talking our most recent Technology Leadership Network site visit host, the Batavia City School District in western New York. In driving around the community, I noticed that new commercial development was underway and after meeting the students, teachers, district staff, and board members, it was clear how the quality of the district's schools must surely contribute to that growth. Sixty-seven educators from 10 states joined me last week to gain a deeper understanding about how Batavia developed its vision and found the funding to create student-centered classrooms. A great example was seen during the visit to a middle school social studies class that had students working in three areas of the room: one group completing work sheets by listening to pre-assigned segments of campaign speeches on iPods; another group using an interactive white board with the instructor; and the remaining students working in pairs on a WebQuest with computers located in the rear of the room. Throughout the visit, we saw excited, engaged students focused on their assigned tasks that encouraged them to think rather than simply recite facts. Although many factors impact an area's economic well being, the visit to Batavia, reminded me how critical it is for school board members to understand the role public schools play in a community's long-term economic health. It is evident that the city of Batavia is now reaping the benefits from years of thoughtful planning by school leaders.

To get an inside look at what it takes to put all the pieces together, consider participating in an upcoming visit. A one-day site visit is planned to the Lake Washington School District in conjunction with NSBA's T+L Conference in Seattle on Monday, October 27, and longer visits are planned in Missouri, Alabama, and Louisiana next spring. Check the TLN website at www.nsba.org/tln for the most up-to-date information.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on May 13, 2008 (boomark / email).